After visiting 12 cities in eight days, it's hardly surprising that Jackie Chan looks as if he is carrying the world on his shoulders. He may not have undergone the rigours he faces in his new movie, Around The World In 80 Days, but the bags under his eyes tell the story of his exhaustion.

"Two years ago I thought about quitting," he admits. "I wanted to just disappear with my family. Simply go away. I didn't want the exposure anymore."

It's a statement that will shock his millions of fans across the globe who eat at Chan restaurants, wear Chan clothes and are supported by his charities. Eventually, they were the ones that changed his mind.

"I looked at the internet," says Jackie, "at the letters that my fans write to me every day. I looked at what my parents wanted and my son. I knew I had to keep going."

Would the world really stop, I wonder, if there was no more Jackie Chan?

"Yes, in some places it would," he replies. "I'm not my own person anymore.

I belong to China, to Asia, to the world. Everybody has a piece of me.

"So I decided I would just continue to do it. For how much longer, I don't know. I'll just continue to do it until one day I can't anymore."

He turned 50 in April and has amassed a fortune rumoured to be in excess of #250m. Even the harshest of bank managers would support a slower pace of life for Chan, who has made more than 92 movies in 43 years.

Around The World In 80 Days is his latest outing, a remake of the Jules Verne classic with Steve Coogan in the lead as intrepid explorer Phileas Fogg. It is, once again, Jackie who breathes life into a stale project with an hilarious performance as Fogg's manservant, Passepartout.

It encompasses the usual cocktail of Chan humour, fantastically choreographed fight scenes and one-liners that made him so in demand in the film and business world.

"In the next month I am organising a Jackie Chan Grand Prix with 15 actors," he adds, "and I start my new movie that week. I'm also producing two other films, then there are meetings for Rush Hour 3 for which we need to find an actress. I've got a Jackie Chan restaurant chain in Hawaii, Korea and Hong Kong which has 27 branches.

"I've got my own clothing line and this year we are opening 50 new shops in China. Everybody will call me asking me to deal with things."

It's exhausting just listening to Jackie as he reels off his hectic diary but, amazingly, his list of good deeds and charity work seem to equal his endless business ventures. He supports everything from small fluffy dogs with injured paws upwards, with the majority of his earnings going to good works.

"The pressure may be a lot, but it has made me a good person," says Hong Kong-born Jackie. "I was a bad boy when I was young. I would kick cars on the sidewalk and smash lights.

"I was stupid with money too. I had a Porsche, a Ferrari and a Mercedes. I didn't know any better. I would crash a car one day and leave it where it was. It didn't matter, I could buy a new one the next day. Then I started to grow up. I looked around at the poverty and realised I was leading a very bad life. People were starving and I'd bought another gold Rolex.

"Now look at me. No gold watch, no designer labels. I drive a poor Mitsubishi car and have a nice house, but it's just big enough for me and my family. I don't do excess anymore."

The temptation when Chan started to make money must have been huge. He is from an incredibly poor family who almost had to sell their only son when he was born as they couldn't afford the medical bills. Scraping by, they enrolled him at a dance school. A movie director spotted him and gave him a tiny role which Chan grabbed with both hands and never let go of.

When Bruce Lee died it was expected that Chan would take on his mantle, but the determined young man had other ideas.

"Somehow I became a poor star," Jackie says. "I only hoped that people would know me in Asia. Then I went further - Malaysia, Japan, Korea. I thought to myself, 'How can these people know Jackie Chan?' Then came the world. I spent so many years trying to correct myself. I read all the letters I was sent - from England, from Germany - people telling me what they liked about my movies, what worked for them and what didn't. I read the letters and I remade myself. And now I am here, a star."

In Britain, he's best known for Rush Hour, The Tuxedo and Shanghai Noon. In America his cult following finally turned him into a mainstream Hollywood legend. He broke the mould and opened doorways for Asian actors everywhere.

He's been married for 21 years to Feng-Jiao Lin, a Chinese actress, and the couple have a son Jaycee, also 21. But it's difficult to imagine a normal family life in the Chan household.

"I try to make sure that my son knows that life isn't easy," says Jackie,"and to ensure that he's not spoilt. I show him the work I do for charities and make sure he knows there are people less fortunate out there. I think he understands."Jackie Chan may appear to be a superman on screen and his body certainly still fits the role. He is a temple to good health, has spent a lifetime exercising and his mind is sharper than most men half his age.

But 43 years in the movie business are enough for any man. So make the most of Jackie Chan. He won't be around forever.